The interstate will be widened between the Delaware Water Gap Toll Bridge west to Exit 303 at Ninth Street and Route 611, a stretch of about 6.6 miles.

The changes are the result of frequent crashes in that length of twisting highway that slices through Delaware Water Gap, East Stroudsburg, Stroudsburg and Stroud Township. Passenger vehicles and tractor-trailers compete in tight turns under a reduced 50-mph speed limit that is rarely observed.

"The roadway was originally built for 14,000 vehicles a day," Scavello said. "There's 77,000 vehicles a day on that roadway now."

The cost of the project, somewhere in the area of $150 million, has been funded through the transportation funding bill that just passed the state Legislature, Brown said. Money for the project will be made available each year during the I-80 widening project.

The entire project will take between six to eight years to complete, according to Scavello.

In fact, the widening project has already begun. The planning, which began in 2013, is in very early designs, Brown said.

"There's a lot of interchange reconstruction, bridge work, replacements and rehabs. That's a massive, massive project. But it will happen," he said.

Property also has to be acquired and rights of way secured, something that will happen during the design work.

Construction will begin with overpasses — they need to be built to accommodate six lanes underneath. Work on the bridges will probably start next year in East Stroudsburg.

"The design is there," Scavello said. "They will work (west) up the road. The property owners impacted have already received letters to let them know their property might be impacted in some way, including a right of way."

The final step would be a total redo of the highway, including several dangerous ramps and acceleration lanes.

"That's the unsafe part, the entrances and exits, that's where the accidents occur," Scavello said.

The widening project will eventually be extended west in a subsequent plan sometime in the future.